Basschat.co.uk Reviews

Barefaced Compact Review by Prime_BASS

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 17:47:30 +0000

Ive had this a while now so the 'hype' factor has now gone and I've had to live with it. I've also owned 2!!!

FEATURES: 8/10
I feel this is realistic: The one I have now is a newer one and has 2 speakons on the back for diasy chaining it with other cabs (spurred on from the TC's lack of speaker outputs) IT's been very thought out, the single side handle makes sense as it allows easy carrying to and from cars etc. It's size is easy to manage in one hand and I'm no muscle man. It's two sets of feet(side and bottom) allow for horizontal stracking too. I guess weight can be mentioned in the features. It only wieghs 12KG and as such I can pick it up and the bass and my head in one go and walk to rehearsals/gigs with it. A decent hand trolley will take you further.
Overall, very good. The extra speakon makes a difference when adding more cabs, but I feel an extra handle on the adjacent side could be useful when moving the unit without having to take everything off the top. The wieght more than makes up for lack of handles.

SOUND/SOUND QUALITY: 9/10
The sound of this cab is huge! Clean! and Clear! People always ask me about it's suitability to certian genres. I tell them that you get out what you put in, and with a quality head you will get a really good DI/PA sound (which I want) With my markbass head it's incredibly clear sounding and you can really hear the difference between the tube pre-amp and solidstate pre-amp. Thats how clear it is. It is also really really loud. Gigged it a few times at venues with no PA support, and it's always been the loudest thing there, being heard over the PA at the back of huge school halls.
Due to it's single speaker the mids don't get muddled up or sound warped and as such it's one of few cabs you might actually need mid-scooped EQ.
It will do everything for everyone providing you know how to EQ for what you want, if you don't Alex is nearly always on hand to help out.
Overall it's really great sounding cab, I havent heard anything else like it, or better. The drop in point comes from the fact that some users may find they now sound 'nasal' or too clean as before they've relied on the cab for 'character'.

Value For Money: 8/10
This is a quality piece of kit and you get a lot of bass cab for the money. Some think that the looks let it down and for the money can get something that looks better. Me personally, I don't care. When it sounds as good as it does, goes lower than most and louder than a lot of competition looks don't really matter. You can not get better quality for the kind of money. A Markbass neo 1x12 with a tweeter costs nearly £200 more and is heavier and will not go louder than the Barefaced Compact, infact the 9kg midget which is even less will go louder and lower than the markbass 1x12.
Overall, it's simple really. I superb sound for less than mainstream manufacturers. The finish is practical however and not design to look good, although with the silver grill cloth it looks considerably vintage.

Customer Support: 10/10
I've brought all of the modular range from Alex at barefaced, and loved all of them. He is a real gent to deal with and is extremely helpful and will answer the most challenging question to the most mundane, he even sent me a performance spec sheet to help me decide on what I really need. Which is a lot more than you'll get from Ampeg, fender etc. When I had my midget it arrived damaged even the box had a hole in (so no fualt of Alex's) and he was happy to do a partial trade in to upgrade it to a super12T.
If you need help the guys at barefaced will help, what more can you ask for?

Overall: 9/10
When it comes down to it, it out performs everything I have tried and I will not be using anything other than a Barefaced Cab. A lot of bassists say it's great and I'm surprised they don't know who Barefaced are. I'm happy to point thgem the right way aswell.

It's not for absolutly everything or everyone, but it is the best compromise on the market today. Super light weight, super loud and the price is as far as I know unbeatable.

The customer service is excellent and extremely helpful.

It's a pro bit of kit for amateur/gigging bassist money. When your band is saying you have to take a cab you know it's a good one.

I'd definitly get another if this was stolen or lost, and really want to get another or a midget to add to a stack. Superb, can not praise them enough.

My bands facebook page has recording which where recorded with either the Midget or the Super12 and I'm working on recording with the Compact aswell.

Stephen H.

Epiphone Thunderbird IV

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 23:12:03 +0000

Brand:
Epiphone
Model:
Thunderbird IV

Features: 9

I bought this bass second hand in August 2011 and it is a 2006 Korean model made in the Unsung factory. Mine is the standard vintage sunburst which I think looks good. There is very little colour option. The back of the neck is also stained the same colour as the body but is does not quite match, probably because it is a differant wood. I have got used to it but on balance I prefer the clear maple finish of a Fender.

Not sure what the wood is as there appears to contflicting information available here. The current (made in China) specification states alder, some older specs say mahogony with a mahogany top, I think it is more likely Basswood with a Mahogany top, as per a 2006 brochure I found on the web, but I could be wrong. Not too heavy and comparable weight to my Fender MIM Precision.

You will see many references to the weird Gibson floating bridge and recomendations to replace it with a Hipshot Supertone. It is a strange bridge as whilst you can lengthen or shorten the string very easily you cannot adjust the height of each string individualy. There are three screws, with one at the front which heightens and slants the bridge upwards and one at each side which heightens the lower E side or upper G side. Personally it is not a big issue for me and I have the E side higher than the G. I am tempted to puchase a Hipshot replacement, but it is costly compared to the price of the bass, and quite frankly I doubt I will hear that much improvement. The guitar does have a very good sustain, however, despite the bridge which does not have full contact with the body.

There is another issue with the bridge in so far as the space between where you anchor the ball end and the actual bridge is small and some silk round strings, such as Rotosounds, can end up with the silk lying over the actual bridge which may effect intonation. The cure is to buy unsilked strings, although I have found Elites Stadiums do not have as much silk at the ball end, or you could thread an old ball end from a bass string to lenghten the silk end back a bit. I have come across a manufactured ‘spacer’ from USA on ebay.

Action, Fit, & Finish: 9

I can find no guide as to what the neck relief should be and I have set mine at 14thou’ which seems to work. Action is set quite low with no buzzes and comparable, if not lower, than my Fender MIM Precision. The neck is narrower than my Precision but does seem to have a fuller C shape. Overall I find it quite fast altough access to to the very top of the neck is hard.

The soldering of the electrics is good and all wires are neat. However the jack socket does work loose and being up against wood I can see it wearing through and being an issue in the future. The finish of the frets is first class with no rough edges The intonatation is perfect on every note and its stays in tune better than my Fender P’Bass on stage and in its case.

The finish or stain is first class although it does seem to attract slight surface scratches that can be seen when you hold it to the light, although this is common with all finishes and it does shine up well. I like its looks and the differant, distinctive retro shape.

Sound Quality: 10
This what I love about this bass. It has a good dark sound yet can cut through the band’s mix. I play a mixture of fingers and plectrum, depending on the number, and it suits both styles. Whilst it does not have the full deep tone of the Fender Precision I prefer the tone with more attack, higher mids and without a boomy bass sound that can take away the clarity of the note. But I respect that tone is personal and it may not suit everybody. However I definately find that this T’Bird can cut through the band mix better than my MIM P’Bass, especially on the top two strings.

Reliability/Durability: 9

Very reliable, but a passive bass so little to go wrong. I think the aforementioned jack socket could become an issue.

Ease of Use: 7

It is an awkward shape and cuts into you stomach but you do get used to it. The Fender P’Bass is far more comfortable as it is contoured; the T’Bird is not and is like a slab of wood. You have to get the height right on the strap to be comfortable.

The neckdive is bad. However it is easily cured by moving the strap button to the neck as has been shown before in various reviews. I cannot understand why it is not there in the first place. The neck, lengthways, does tend to tip slightly forward away from you and you do have hold the bass to counter this effect so you can see the frets clearly.

I also needed to put a strap lock on the body end as the strap kept slipping off, due the angle of the strap to the body.

Customer Support: 7

I did email Gibson to ask what size allen key it takes and got a respones a few days later which was good. However there is not much support regarding set up, wiring, etc., comparable to what is available on the Fender website and it really is quite poor. Could be much improved, unless I am missing the main site?

Overall Rating: 9

Pros

Relatively cheap – especially if second hand and overall very good value and holds it own with basses costing a lot more
Recognised as a quality bass and used professionally, I believe by Pete Way of UFO.
Perfect intonation
Cuts through the mix with a live band
Good ‘rock’ tone
Keeps in tune
Excellent finish
Fast neck

Cons

Uncomfortable to play
Long neck (will only fit certain bags/cases)
Tone will not be to everybody’s taste especially if you prefer a smooth ‘bassier’ sound
Neck dive
Bridge will not permit individual strings to be heightened or lowered

EBS Neoline 210

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:25:29 +0000

Technical Specifications (from EBS website)

Frequency Response
50 - 18k Hz
Sensitivity
102 dB
Power Rating
500 W RMS
Impedance
4 ohms
Volume
63 liters
Height
44 cm / 17"
Width
58 cm / 23"
Depth
44 cm / 17"
Weight
19 kg / 42 lbs
Price
RRP £920

Test Bed

Amp – EBS Reidmar 250
Basses – MTD 535-24 and Lakland 55-02

Appearance

Cabs are generally not much to look at and the Neoline 210 is no exception. The absence of the blue coloured strips at the top and bottom of the face of the cab and the switch from a chrome finished woven grille to a black finish has certainly given the Neoline range a more inconspicuous appearance. It reminds me a lot of certain bass cabs made in the 80’s with chicken wire styled grilles, so not really keeping up with fashion. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I actually prefer this unassuming cosmetic look compared to the rather ‘bling’ persona that the Proline cabs adopt. If you like your cabs covered in diamanté gems with laser beams shooting out of the tweeter horn then this may be too bland for you! The dark felt covering is reassuringly thick and tough and will take more than a few knocks, but it will be a hair magnet next to a cat!

Overall Rating: 7/10

Sounds

I hooked up the Reidmar 250 amp and set the tweeter control at the back of the cab to -0+dB. There is certainly a subtle difference in tone between the Pro and the Neo models. The voicing is a bit more perky and urgent sounding than the Pro. To say it sounds aggressive is probably not accurate, but does have a tiny bit more percussive thump when popping or plucking in a fast staccato rhythm. I wouldn’t like to put this down to the Neodymium speakers entirely as I think the voicing is coming more from the spruce plywood and extra front porting this cab has (Proline – birch plywood). The tone around the Neo cab feels and sounds very different, so acoustically the experience is different and that could come down to the wood construction. EBS applied a spruce construction to cut a bit more weight off I suspect, so the change in acoustic character could be a consequential exchange. I haven’t popped the cab open to see if the bracing inside is different, but I am satisfied with my conclusion otherwise. But, there is very little difference in tone compared to a Proline model and you will have to spend quite a bit of time to notice the subtle tonal variance.

Rolling back the tweeter and turning off the filter control on the Reidmar 250 amp opens up a whole new range of classic tones. I dialled in my ‘Bernard Edwards Tone’ and switched to my Lakland 55-02 in passive mode. Again, the response is very tight and punchy and boosting the mid’s on the amp really makes this cab sing. The tone has an almost keyboard sample type articulation when you apply it in short bursts, but holding on to a note really bellows sweetly which makes me grin every time I do it! Pleasantly controllable and flexible.

Okay, it was only a matter of time before I switched back to the MTD to do some slap! EBS gear is famed as one of the best amps for this style and the Neoline 210 definitely supports that reputation. The tonal focus this cab is incredible right across the fingerboard…even when slapping the low B string. Even when your bass EQ is completely flat the tone is incredibly musical and impressive. Very little work needs to be done on the amp…the cab somehow helps you. It has strength as well as depth and is quite simply amazing. I’ll say it again…amazing!

Volume…oh yes…it has plenty of that! As I am working from home today I had to be a little bit careful about cranking this baby, but I did give it a quick ‘stage volume’ squirt for about 5mins. I couldn’t push the speakers until I could hear a break up in the tone, but I had to back down quickly as soon as the window in my music room began to shake! The Proline 210 that I also own can be pushed to the same volume, but does start to break up a little bit sooner. I was probably close to that with the Neoline 210, but it did give me a bit of confidence that there was still a bit more in reserve. The extra 50w per speaker will help towards, but I am more convinced by the power efficiency of the Neodymium magnets being able offer an extra bit of performance.

The Neoline 210 cab is stereotypically EBS. The low end is punchy and tight and the mid-range very focussed and transparent. This cab sounds very excitable and is very sensitive to the touch. The quick response is really breath taking and I have really bought into it, but as a standalone cab the Neoline 210 may not hold enough girth for some players and I would probably recommend pairing it with a 12” or 15” cab for a more full range experience. It can handle quite a lot of bass boost for a 210…probably the best handling 210 cab I have ever played through, but as the frequency response for this cab is between 50-18k Hz don’t expect miracles at high volumes if you intend to use this cab on its own. I generally have my low end EQ set flat so it’s not a big issue for me, but I would understand if other players that want more in the basement will find the speakers a bit brittle at high volumes. I would say the Neoline 210 draws the line between ample stage volume and acoustic room fill. If you want to fill the venue using your backline volume then I would go for a second cab or larger set up…failing that, seek a solution to put your amp through the FOH. For smaller applications the Neoline 210 performs very well indeed and you will be hard pushed to find another 210 cab that performs this well with such clarity and dynamic response.

This cab really projects and gives a nice gloss to whatever you may throw at it. I am not a jack of all trades when it comes to musical styles, but I have played blues, funk/slap, rock/metal, hip-hop and well known soul lines and tones through the Neoline 210 whilst writing this review and it could cope with all of that very well. The tuning and voicing may not be everyone’s taste and may come across as unforgiving because of its hi-fi, hyperactive character. However, if you can reign in this buck you will reap the rewards!

Overall Rating: 9/10

Reliability/Durability

As with any cab due care and attention will improve the performance and life. EBS have a reputation for building very solid and tough bass cabs and I can testify to that. I have only owned the Neoline 210 for 10 days so it really hasn’t been pushed or accompanied me to dozens of gigs yet, so I can’t comment on the reliability and durability of this particular cab quite yet. I can vouch for the other EBS cabs that I have owned for the past 8yrs and they sound just as good today than they did on day one. The tweeter horn did fail on my Proline 410, but that was down to my own embarrassing silliness and misuse. A RAT pedal at full tilt with the horn turned up high at brain melting volume will do that, so don’t try it! Apart from a couple of scratches here and there caused through careless transit and slight bobbling of the felt covering I have nothing else to say. I do have a concern about repairing or replacing a speaker if needed. Neodymium speakers will eventually become a thing of the past, so replacing a like-for-like speaker could be an issue in the future.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Ease of use

You have the option of connecting your amp via speakon or jack, which means you can pretty much hook up any bass amp that can be used at a 4ohm load. You can also series link to another cab if you so wish. The tweeter horn level control at the back is easily accessible and has a clearly marked dial to tune to your perfect horn level to suit your taste. It stacks very nicely on top or below of any of the EBS cabs available, with the exceptions of the 10” and 12” cabs which are a few inches smaller in dimension. I was considering purchasing a 12” cab to place below, but the cabs won’t sit on top of each other snuggly and look a tad out of proportion. Not a huge issue, but not aesthetically pleasing to look at either. As the Classicline cabs don’t have the plastic corner covers that keep the Proline and Neoline cabs tightly in line with each other that might be bothersome too. But, if you can live with it who is going to stop you?

I’m stalling to be fair. The fundamental feature of this cab is the weight. Thanks to the Neodymium speakers and spruce plywood construction it yields at only 19kg (42lbs). To put it into perspective…about the same weight as a healthy medium sized dog! That’s really impressive and if you suffer from back pain (as I do) this weight reduction is very welcome. The Neoline 210 can be carried very easily by one person and the chunky handle grips that are recessed into the side of the cab give a secure feel when whilst walking from the car to the stage. The cab is no less bulky than most 210’s to carry, but your hands and wrists will not fatigue as quickly thus minimising unwanted droppage and doing the ’10 yard sprint’ to the stage when your arms have finally given up on you!

Overall Rating: 9/10

Customer Support

I have spoken to Ralph @ EBS on a couple of occasions and I am glad to say that the level of after sales care has been 1^st class. When I blew my tweeter horn on my 410 he immediately sent a replacement diaphragm free of charge even though I admitted that I grossly misused it and eventually broke it! When you speak to Ralph you can tell that he reflects the passion and commitment that EBS have for their products and their customers. Can’t fault him…very good guy to deal with.

Overall Rating: 10/10

Value for money

This level of professional quality, high performance and portability does come at a price though. Ummm…there is no way easy way of saying this…the RRP for this 210 cab is £920! Not a very competitive price in the Neo speaker loaded cab market and will be out of reach for many players. But, EBS cabs are notoriously tough and reliable. Could the Neoline 210 be a cab for life? IMHO…yes, but I would expect rather than hope that this kind of investment will pay off in dividends over many years of use.

Overall Rating: 6/10

Summary

You could argue that £920 can buy a high end 410 with more power handling on tap and I would agree to that. I have already received some very confused looks from friends as to why I ploughed so much money into a small cab, even though I bought mine at a discounted price. When mobile phones get smaller, when computers get smaller or any other every day item becomes more user friendly, compact and efficient you will see the value of that item go up in price. It’s the cruel world of consumerism and yes…I am a whore to it, but the extra investment I have dedicated will be beneficial to me in other ways. My health for one example. Getting heavy bass kit from the car to the stage is one thing, but carrying it up and down 4 flights of stairs to my apartment without the luxury of a lift is something else when you have a whiplash injury.

As a standalone cab the power on tap will satisfy most demands of the small to medium size indoor venue musician, but it is only a 210 at the end of the day I would tread carefully if you want to fill the room from your backline if this is your inclination. Because the frequency response range is between 50 - 18k Hz the Neoline 210 is not a full range package.

I bought an EBS Reidmar 250 amp just before Xmas as a light weight and portable solution for my backline requirements for smaller gigs or in situations where space is a luxury. It was my intention to couple the Reidmar with the Neoline 210 to complete what I was hoping to be a compact and easy to transport mini rig and I am glad to say that I have. The tone and power is unmistakably EBS and my close fascination and admiration of this brand has been unchanged. The Neoline 210 is a gem in what I consider to be the golden age of lightweight digital bass amplification technology. Sadly, these cabs may not be around for much longer due to the tightening of the exportation of Neodymium material to the rest of the globe and we could see production of these light weight and efficient speakers come to extinction in a matter of months rather than years. Some other manufacturers have already taken steps to discontinue their Neo range of speaker cabinets to seek other alternatives or take a step back to ceramic magnets and I would imagine our Swedish friends may take the same unfortunate decision very soon too. But, for now I am pleased that I now have a memento from what could be the short lived era of speaker technology that set a new bench mark for bass amplification over the past 10 years.

Overall Review Rating: 8/10

Positives:
Very lightweight and portable
Powerful
Clear and defined tone

Negatives:
Very expensive for a 210 cab
Speaker repairs/replacements could be difficult in the future

Also check out:
Vanderkley MNT210
Mark Bass 102HF
Genz Benz NEOX 210T
PJB 8B
Bergantino AE210 (discontinued)
EA NL210-III

Hartke Kilo 1000w Bass Head

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:33:11 +0000

Hartke Kilo 1000W Bridge / Stereo / Dual Mono Bass head with all valve preamp.

The long awaited Hartke flagship arrived on our shores late last year. My own Kilo in this review was actually one of the very first to arrive in the UK. (It's funny actually, Larry joshed with me saying that he couldn't believe I had mine weeks before his arrived in his own shop in New York!)

I have had a bit of time to get to know it and use it in anger. I've thus waited until now to do a write up for you Basschat!

Let's dive in straight away to see what all the fuss is about...

Features (11/10)

The kitchen sink is in here too! The front and rear panels are logically laid out with clear markings and I love the fact that the function buttons are tidy and light up clearly to alert you of their status on a dark stage. That's something to point out straight away. This Bass head is a serious touring piece of kit. It'll never be a lightweight 'stick it in the gig bag' type amp, everything about it means business. The front panel plate probably came off a NASA shuttle! - it's thick and strong enough to support the whole amp in a rack case.

From left to right the front panel is as follows: (See pictures for close up.)

Two huge handles flank either side of the controls providing a comfortable lift when in transit but also ample protection should your drummer decided to place the amp face down on the floor. Thank you drummer!

Input socket and a front mounted tuner output (there's another on the back too! Nice!) sit underneath the first switch - a pad to attenuate the level of 'hot' output basses. This will stop overloading of the first gain stage - but of course, if you want extra dirt leave this disengaged. You won't damage the amp, it depends on how ugly you like your sound to get ;o) Mmmm ugly!!

The Kilo features a Compressor. It isn't switchable but at a zero setting it is off. It's a pretty good full band compressor actually. I'm not sure if what Billy Sheehan said about it being modelled on a particularly famous compressor is true, but I certainly found that setting it so it only just kicks in rewards you with a tasteful and natural control to your peaks. It;s certainly more of a limiter than a 'compressor sustainer' type effect.

Next up the valve Overdrive control, the first of the foot switchable features - and can also be activated from the front panel button. This is more of an overdrive than a full out distortion. Think early Big Muff break up vs MXR M80 or Ampeg BSP type distortion. It's a lot more angry sounding but with less gain than the latter mentioned pedals. The control starts from clean and progresses to a dirty distortion not unlike maxing out the Orange Terror, but more refined.

Along to the right, a mute switch. YES! something so simple but so helpful especially for those having to change basses or even the simple task of silently tuning mid set. The tuner outputs stay live when the rest of the amp is hushed. Nice!

I'm going to mess with the review a little now as I want to talk about the all valve preamplifier: Gain, Bright, Deep, Bass, Mid and Treble controls as one. This is pretty much the same incredible preamp that you'll find in the LH series of heads. I also want to make special note about the Master Volume too.*

So firstly, the EQ here is a passive tone stack - and a design that is so simple and musical it has found it's way in to some of the 'best' bass gear on the planet. Alembic, Fender, Trace Elliot and Ampeg to name just a few have all used the design to produce those classic tones. I was asked recently how three controls could possibly be that flexible vs a graphic. The secret is in the fact that each band interacts with each other. For example, if you took a graphic equaliser and set all controls to +2, then pushed all up to +6 the amplifier would sound the pretty much the same just louder. If you did the same with this passive EQ on this head the preamp radically changes it's sound as the whole frequency curve in the tone stack changes shape. Any additional volume gained can then be pulled back with the gain or master volume control. 'Flat Response' on these tone stacks is in the region of 2 Bass, 10 Mids and 2 Treble. I'm not going to spend too much more time discussing why, but I will say that setting everything at 12 o'clock exhibits a gentle scooped 'smiley face' type frequency curve that works great for Bass guitar. Boost the mids and pull back the bass if there's too much in the lows. This amp is more than capable in that department!

*So - many asked why the LH didn't have a gain control. Well, in actual fact it did.. I mean, it does. The way the preamp design is arranged can be likened to taking a normal gain + master volume type amp head, fixing the master full on 'maxed' all the time and then controlling the whole volume with the gain control. This is much like old valve amps that did not feature a master volume control from yesteryear. The point being its that they were never designed to distort originally - but when it was realised that cranking the only volume control made the amp snarl and drive, guitarists wanted to be able to do this at a more realistic stage volume. Anyone heard a JCM800 and 4x12 on full whack? The master volume control was born so that full on distortion could be realised at lower volumes.
Why am I rambling on about this? - Hartke's return to the Master Volume control. The LH series wasn't designed to distort and that's how they achieved that hugely dynamic and very loud tone off the heads. The Kilo however features a drive section that you can push even further by winding the gain all the way up. The master volume will allow you to control your onstage volume with the preamp raging in to overdrive.

Deep and Bright controls are included for extra shaping. The Deep control adds bass boost at 50Hz and the Bright switch is like a 'treble bleed' that allows more treble through at lower gain levels. As the gain control is increased less treble is bled through in ratio. A nice touch if your top end isn't carrying through when the gain control is lowered. Certainly the case when using passive pickups with a very high output that might need that extra sheen.

Let's jump back to the Shape knob and button. If you have ever used the Hartke Attack pedal or one of their Kickback combo amplifiers then you'll know what this does already. Hartke call it an enhancer; as you rotate the control round certain frequencies of the sound are boosted and others cut. I love my Bass tone as it is already, so I've been using this set to around 9 and have been using the foot switch to punch in some mids for soloing. It works really nicely for this and saves on having another boost pedal.

Finally for the remaining buttons, the effects loop can be switched in and out of the signal path by foot switch or front panel button as can the wide Bass friendly graphic equaliser. When you enable the graphic, not only does the button light up, but so do all the tips of the graphic sliders! - Yes, I love lights and this made me smile.. My name is Dood and I am a geek!

The 10 band graphic spans from 30hz to 8Khz with a level control to compensate for any changes in volume when you kick the EQ in to circuit.

Three knobs left: Direct Out sets the level of the DI. I've left the control at 5 and haven't had any comments from FOH engineers yet so can't comment if it's too hot or not.

The Select control can have it's own paragraph because I think it's usefulness could be overlooked. So what does it do? Well, simply it decides at what point the signal going to the D.I out is picked off. So what Dood? Well you can take the signal from the input jack; that would be the same as the signal from just your bass. Or you can take the signal straight out after the compressor, or after the EQ sections or after the effects loop. My point? well, as a very simple example - you know it means that you can send your lovely valve compressed tone to the PA, but for those rooms that EQ really badly, keep the graphic equaliser for ironing out problems with your on stage sound. Engineer still gets your fat bass tone to play with and not what you are struggling with due to bad acoustics.

Last up on the front panel the Balance knob. If you are running the amp in full stereo or on dual mono configurations, this knob balances the levels going out to the two power amplifiers. Great if you are running a 15" speaker and a 4x10" cabinet whose sensitivities are very different - you can balance them up so they are as loud as each other. It can also be a brilliant control if you use a second cab as a monitor for your band mates. You can give them a bit less level on their side of the stage. Nice, clever, useful. The balance control does not function in bridge mode.

Round to the back then:

Left to Right, AC power in and a switch for 220-240V/100-120V - As I said, this rig is designed for the road. Take it worldwide!

Next up, one Speakon and TWO 1/4" jacks for each of the two 500W RMS power amplifiers. The three sockets per channel are all wired in parallel. You can run a minimum of 2 Ohms load from each output. YES in theory you could run eight 8 ohms cabinets from one amplifier in stereo / dual mono mode - four on each channel. There is a seperate Speakon for the Bridge mode that ties both power amplifiers together to produce one stonking 1000W RMS monster output. Be sure to flick the switch from 'stereo' to 'bridge' next to the socket. Minimum load here is 4 Ohms. Don't go any lower than the stated impedances or the amplifier will text Larry and he will come round and beat you for hurting his amps.**

To the right of the outputs, a pair of foot switch sockets. You can either use an effects unit with 'remote switching' capabilities as I do to enable and disable functions as part of an effects patch or a pair of two button latching control pedals will do just fine. eBay are full of Marshall type clones that will be work.

Where are we? Ok yeah - a full stereo effects loop (that can also be used in mono) and a pair of stereo 'preamp out' & 'power amp in' sockets that can be used for either slaving out to another power amplifier (he he he he.. DOOOM!!) or inserting another signal processor. If you really wanted to, you could just use the 'power amplifier in' sockets to completely disable all other functionality on the Kilo so you have direct access to the massive power amplifiers on board. Why you'd want to I don't know! .... Hmmm maybe for slaving from another Kilo... ;o)

Finally on the far right hand side of the rear panel the D.I XLR socket with ground lift and the rear mounted tuner connection socket.

Also note in the picture the amplifier has rear mounts for rack cases too for extra support. Probably a good idea to use them.

** I could have made that bit up.

Sound Quality (10/10)

With so many features on board it's hard to say what the Kilo isn't capable of. You don't have to have any functions switched on at all to be rewarded with that great LH series tone. You can, as I do use the additional features for solo tone shaping, or for using a different Bass altogether. You can be subtle with it and I am happy to say that set up properly the amp isn't a tone sucking monster.

I'm yet to 'tube roll' on it so I can't comment what make of 12AX7 preamplifier valves are under the bonnet. Those who know me on the forum will probably have seen that I have a set of favourites at home. Maybe one day I'll pop those in to see how the amp fares. That aside, there is nothing wrong with the valve preamp tone. Big and plummy!

Value For Money (10/10)

This is easy! Find the equivalent amplifiers on the market then take a look at the prices - even online prices. These amplifiers, as well as pretty much all of the others in the same category are made in China. Hartke have still managed to keep the retail price very competitive. You are genuinely getting a lot for your money.

Customer Support (10/10)

I shouldn't really comment as it would seem biased - however what I can say is that if you search on the forum there is at least one if not more threads congratulating Hartke and their UK distributor Korg for brilliant service. We have Hartke UK on the forum too. Now how's that for looking after the customer base? That deserves a 10/10 rating.

Overall Rating (9.5/10)

This is my 'perfect amplifier' rating. What would I have included to make this a perfect ten? You really can't complain about the feature set. A full valve preamplifier connected to two powerful MOSFET amplifiers being driven by a transformer capable of delivering massive current to the power supplies. It delivers volume and tonal girth by the lorry load. Therein however lies a mere downside. For all of that and with any similar head, it's a BIG amplifier and with big comes a side order of extra weight. The Hartke Kilo isn't for the feint hearted and is a tour spec head. If you're playing the Dog n' Duck in a three piece band that can all squeeze in to a Austin Maestro, then you could be looking elsewhere in the Hartke range for your back line requirements. For that reason, given the amount of pub gigging bands out there, the specs might put a few off before they actually try one out. That said if you want a rig that is flexible and will reward you with a big sound, then I think this one should be at the top of the 'money well spent' list.

Dood, BassChat
http://www.danveall.com

Gallien Krueger MB500

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:18:15 +0000

A short review of the Gallien Krueger MB500.

500 watts (and believeable 500 watts at that) at 4 Ohms, 375 at 8 Ohms. The amp has two speakon sockets, which can apparently be used with a 1/4 inch jackplug too. Not tried it, but that`s what the manual says. Has an on-board limiter, and tuner out - always helpful, that. Selectable boost by either control on the amp, or included footswitch. Gain, Contour (scoops mids) Bass, Low-Mid, High-Mid, Treble, Master Volume.

I`ve now used this amp with cabs from Eden, Hartke, Peavey, and Schroeder. I`ve found it to work best with the Peavey and Schroeder, but that`s not to say it was bad with the others.

I can go from the typical GK sound, think Duff McKagan, to a far more old-school thumping sound, so the amp has a great deal of versatility. The eq really does work well, and, as I usually find with good amps, it`s cutting the frequencies that seems to yield the best results.

Perfromance wise, it is a loud little amp, very GK in sound (durr, well it should be).

And one of the best things - it`s about the same size, and weight, as half a laptop, so it fits into my leads box.

If you want that famed GK sound, in a lightweight amp, but don`t want lightweight performance, this amp is worth checking out.

DiMarzio Model J DP123

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:24:20 +0000

I was surprised to see that there were no reviews of the Model Js already posted on here. There are plenty of reviews out there already, but I thought it might be worth doing one focusing on the wiring/passive electronics side of things. There is a techy bit in the middle for those that like that...

I recently installed these in an ash CIJ 75RI with maple fretboard. Previously this bass was ok but despite the alleged US pickups the tone somehow lacked authority across the spectrum, with neither the solid bottom nor the aggressive growl and upper-mid clank of a really good jazz bass. Swapping the originals with some MIM 'vintage' alnicos as used in the HWY1 and 'Classic' series improved things somewhat (I think these are great trad-sounding pickups), but I still felt it was a little lacking compared to the snappy acoustic tone of the bass. Throughout all the changes, the strings remained the same rather ancient (2 years now?) DR Black Beauties. Not the toppiest string to start with and now very very worn. I much prefer old strings when auditioning basses, makes it easier to judge the contribution of the bass/pickups etc.

I went for the 'creme' option, the adjustable matte-black pole pieces make this extra retro snazzy, or a horrendous eyesore, depending on your taste. As other users have noted, the large ceramic magnets on the base of these pickups make them stand a good deal taller than alnico equivalents. At first I was worried they wouldn't fit at all, but after removing the Fender pickup foam and replacing this with a thin sliver of the foam the DiMarzios were supplied in (as recommended in the installation instructions) they dropped in just far enough to allow me room to adjust the height to taste.

The DiMarzios are split-coil 4-wire pickups, allowing you the option of series or parallel wiring each pickup separately. This is different from the jazz 'S1 mod' where a pair of pickups are giving series/parallel wiring between them. I initially chose parallel wiring, and the tone of the bass was far more 'solid' with more bottom end and low-mids in particular. However, I still wasn't completely satisfied as I like that jazz top-end bite, so last week I set about making more mods.

Before going any further, here is a link to a very good explanation of how pickups shape tone (mainly focusing on the high end) and how the different electronics options interact with this: http://buildyourguit...esources/lemme/
The take-home messages in relation to this review are:
-That pickups have a resonant peak before cut-off, ie they emphasise characteristic frequencies in the upper-mid/treble range.
-Pickup inductance determines the frequency/Q of the peak. You can adjust the frequency downward by increasing capacitive load or by switching the wiring from parallel to series. This latter will halve the resonant frequency of the pickup as well as boost overall output.
-Adjusting the resistive load by changing pot values alters the height of the peak (Q).

DiMarzio's 'standard' wiring, as far as I can tell, is series, and their standard recommended pots are 500k whereas those in my Fender are 250k. My parallel wiring will give a higher peak frequency than the standard but the Fender pots will reduce the peak height. So I decided to install 500k pots to raise the height (not frequency) of the resonant peak, and decided that if I was going to bother I may as well use push-pull (DPDT) volume pots so I could switch each pickup independently between series and parallel.

Rather than the fantastically expensive DiMarzio push-pull pots, I used cheaper alpha pots from StewMac in the US (since I was ordering some other bits and bobs anyway). DiMarzio helpfully have lots of wiring diagrams for various configurations, I used this one but altered it so series engaged with the pot out rather than in: http://www.dimarzio....pdualsndv1t.pdf

Anyway...the most important thing from my perspective is that increasing the pot values to 500k gave me exactly the effect I was after. The treble 'bite' is much more prominent while the low end authority of the bass is preserved. Tbh I was surprised how much of a subjective difference it made, that peculiar effect where the bass just feels easier to play. With both pickups on full I get a classic 70s and 80s-style jazz bass tone - more Larry than Marcus, with tons of character and aggressive enough to cut through a mix when I dig in hard. It doesn't quite have the airy extended top end of the real US Fender Vintage 75 pickups (which I have on another bass) but is very good and sounds like a Fender jazz nonetheless. Soloing each pickup gives very useable versions of the classic JB single-pickup tones. Switching each pickup into series mode, the most obvious effects with both pickups on full is an increase in volume. Compensating for this you can hear the shift in resonant peak, giving a more 'middy' sound with a bit more oomph in the bass. Where it really comes into its own is with each pickup solo'd or combining series/parallel. The neck pickup in series is instant 'Precision', while the bridge has a handy low-end boost making that 'Jaco-esque' sound useable in a wider range of situations at the expense of a little treble. The tone control also has a very obviously different character when the pickups are in series versus parallel.

Overall, I think if you bother to install DiMarzios at all it's worth spending the extra at least on 500k pots, ideally on the push-pull variants. You could even use a third on the tone knob either to mimic the Fender s1 mod or give phase-reverse options, though I am happy enough as is. I may at some point try a 1Meg pot on the tone for a further small increase in brightness, but right now this is at last giving me the sounds that I've been after for a very long time. It's extremely versatile, if I had to choose one setting it would be all parallel, everything on full. But I don't have to choose, woo! Playing with combinations of series-parallel/varying volume whilst playing along with various funk, pop etc tracks, I've found it fairly easy to get a tone that's a reasonable match to whatever I'm listening to, even (to an extent) with records that use a Stingray. I am now very happy indeed with these pickups.

SHINE RK2000NK(rickenbacker clone)

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:57:16 +0000

just thought i would write a quick review on the shine rk2000 rickenbacker clone bass guitar, i have been a long time rickenbacker bass player and have owned many rickenbacker,s throughout my life. i noticed the shine rk2000 in an article about ric copies and the guy writing the article was a 4001 owner and he seemed to think the bass was a very high quality bass, i managed to find one of the basses in a small guitar shop in scotland, the bass is made from maple body and maple neck through construction same as a genuine ric, the neck has a rosewood fretboard with triangular pearl inlays and a heavy laquer finish again the same as a genuine ric. the electronic side of the bass now, it comes as standard with seymour duncan rickenbacker replacement pickups which cost around £180, i took the scratch plate off to have a look at the wiring and the work seems to be of a decent standard and high quality wiring is used, the paint job is of a high standard also being the jetglo finish, the only weak point i could find on the bass was the bridge and i am talking from an aesthetic point of view, it is a large bridge and is a fairly chunky piece of metal and to be honest it does what it should do, i just find it personally a bit ugly!! i restrung the bass with d,addario roundwound xl strings, as i have no idea about the quality of the strings that are installed on the bass, well i have to tell you i was shocked at the tone of this bass guitar , i could not believe the awesome tone that emanates from this bass, i am sorry to have to say it puts the rickenbacker to shame considering the cost of the current 4003 uk price of around £1699!!!! as i said i have owned 8 rickenbackers over the years and the same problem crops up with rics, the e string is always a problem unless you are really lucky and have a full sounding e!!! i recently went into guitar guitar in glasgow and had the opportunity of comparing 7 4003 basses, one of which i purchased, out of the 7 basses only the one i bought was fit for playing, not one of the basses sounded the same to me or the salesman who was helping me out , i found it incredible that a bass that costs that amount of money was so inconsistant, when i got the 4003 home i even had to tighten the bridge up as the screws were so slack, the tone got a whole lot better after that , but as the weeks went by, i was still unhappy with the sound , so i sold the bass on. back to the shine !! i can only say i was put off by the mere fact this is a copy bass, but i soon put this out of my head by the sheer quality of sound this bass produces if it had rickenbacker written on it you would be happy trust me on that!! i cant put this bass down it just sounds better and better, for £499 its a great buy and if you are looking for a ric tone but dont want to pay the big bucks , i can recommend this bass 100%.

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Ampeg SVT 7 Pro

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:35:54 +0000

I picked up this head yesterday after finally getting the money together. I'd discovered it originally by trying out an Ampeg PF 500. I loved the tone and portabilty of the PF 500 but I was a little concerned about the headroom for larger venues (I don't have PA support, and prefer to hear the tone that the audience are hearing. As much as possible anyway). Then I spotted the SVT 7 Pro sitting on top of some Hartke cabs, so had a play with that instead. After 30 seconds of playing I was convinced. So I decided to put my money away and get what isn't too far away from being the big brother to the PF 500.

The features I like - onboard compressor, FX blend, headphone out, D-class power stage (lightweight and doesn't HAVE to have a load connected), 5-way midrange selector, ultra hi and ultra low switches, weighs 7 kg(!), 1000 w @ 4 ohms, 600 w @ 8 ohms, and nothing superfluous that confuses me!

I've had the all-singing, all-dancing type of head before where the EQ is very effective, and there are limitless options to colour the sound. But I don't want that. I wanted an amp that would sound good 'flat' - and with all dials at 12 o'clock I love the sound of this amp!

At rehearsal last night I gave my new baby it's first test run. I paired it with a Markbass 106 HF cab (6 x 10) and played a Fender Jazz with full neck pup, and a third bridge pup to add a little growl.

With the compressor at 3 o'clock, gain at 1 o'clock, mid selector @ 450 hz and boosted slightly, master volume at 10 o'clock, and all other setting flat, we kicked off with some Sabbath and Purple to warm up.

First impressions were surprisingly good. I couldn't believe how clear and defined every single note was. I was playing finger-style. The lows held the mix together, while the highs leapt out aggressively and demanded to be heard. This is one of the problems that's blighted me in the past - uneveness across the strings and low/high register.

We moved through the set, playing everything from Metallica and Iron Maiden, through to Santana's 'She's not there' and RHCP's 'Higher ground' and I didn't have to tweak anything. The only things I did play with were the 'ultra low' switch - which is great for adding extra low-end presence and punch (this also scoops the mids slightly). And the mid-selector - I switched it to 800 hz for some pick-played songs. This added more percussiveness to the tone with a bit of bite. As I said, I didn't HAVE to tweak but wanted to find out what this amp could do and what would suit different songs.

The mid-selector is a great feature. It alters the character of the sound but without the hassle of having to adjust inputs and volume like you would if adjusting a conventional EQ mid-gig. The gain can be cranked right up to get the full potential of the slightly over-driven Ampeg tone (when using a sensible compression setting).

I did have reservations as to whether this particular model could nail the Ampeg tone, as it only has one 12AX7 valve in the preamp. I needn't have worried! This amp does warm, grindy, clean, punchy, the lot!

I'll add to this review once I've gigged with the amp. But so far I have nothing bad to say about it. And I'm much happier with its performance than I thought I'd be.

Custom RIM Marseer 5 fretless - now with pictures

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:23:59 +0000

I've had this a week now so I think I've had time to become objective enough after the first glorious rush of unquestioning luurv.

The specs:
Swamp Ash body done to swallowtail Marseer design, with satin poly finish
Maple and Wenge bolt-on neck with slotted headstock, Sperzel tuners and Macassar Ebony fingerboard, and nut width of 46mm
Two Christoph Dolph dual coil pickups into a Glockenklang 3-band active 9v preamp
Finger ramp between pickups.
ETS Bridge and saddles with inset anchor piece, and string spacing of 18mm
The neck has Luminlay fluorescent side dots that glow after being 'charged' with the supplied mini-torch - see photos below. They really work very well, giving a useful glow for a long time.

Playability and adjustments
The ramp and the ability to get a low action make this a lot easier to play than my mainstay bass of 30 years, a fretless Shergold Marathon, which I thought was decent in any case. The satin poly finish on the neck makes it smooth without being slippery, and it doesn't stick or grip at your hands as you slide around. Adjustment of the saddles can be a bit fiddly after being used to a Badass bridge, but I can see where the extra flexibility in the ETS design comes in, with three height adjusting grub screws per saddle and one that locks it in place. Saddle tilt of back to front and side to side is available with this arrangement. The neck just needed a barest amount of relief after dropping the action fractionally - I have a light rather than heavy touch. The truss rod adjustment was very smooth as are the tuners.
8/10 - bridge a bit fiddly.

The sound
The first thing that was apparent was the clarity in the low end compared with the Shergold. The low notes are far better defined and not lumpy and coloured. The bridge pickup gives a very defined sound throughout with plenty of clear bottom as well as mid bite. The neck pickup is still defined but is capable of thunderous solid tones. The preamp has just the right amount of adjustment available - no point in having it if it won't be used. Set flat there is no difference in volume in switching from active to passive, and no perceived change in tone. The preamp is very transparent.

With a volume with pull-out for switching to passive, a pickup blend, and bass, middle and treble controls, I've got everything I need. It's taken me a week to adjust my playing to get the best out the sound the bass produces - an adjustment in right hand positioning relative to the bridge, and a change to how I pluck the strings - the ramp has helped here - it's slightly more of a caressing pluck than a sudden one. Difficult to describe really.

After spending an afternoon at a tame drummers house and doing some recording, I was able to get an articulate range of sounds (for me), and came away chuffed to bits.
9/10

The finish
The quality of Robbie's craftsmanship is exceptional. The fit of the back plate that covers the electronics bay is so perfect, that even with removing the screws, the plate won't fall out. When I did remove it, there was a properly shielded copper lined cavity and some excellently soldered electronics. The accuracy of the woodworking and build is superb - I genuinely can't fault anything.
10/10

General comments
After 30 years playing the same instrument, I knew I was going to have to change a few things about how I approached this new one. The extra string still leads to the odd moment of right hand finger confusion with a succession of strange ghost notes as I pluck the wrong string. Getting there though.

The perseverance is paying off as I get to learn how to get the sounds I want - from adjusting both my playing mechanics and the electronics. It took me 30 years to get the Shergold sounding decent, so a week of experimenting is nothing, considering how it's gone past the Shergold and left it standing. Never thought I'd say that.

I'll try to get some sound clips up at some stage. I'll also put up any changes to how I view anything I've already said as I live with the bass from now on.

Joyo JT-032 Chromatic Tuner.

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 11:00:21 +0000

Took a punt on this for £25 delivered off Amazon..

Metal cased, true bypass, chromatic tuner.. As fast and as accurate as the one in my RH450, and slightly easier to read... I'm using a five string in standard B ------> G tuning...

Has 9V in (and out!) four display modes and 9 tuning adjustments (440, 441 etc)

Well recommended so far.. My bargain of the month..

http://www.amazon.co...22305176&sr=8-6

Cheers

Mark

Squier cv Jazz bass

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:24:49 +0000

Hi,

Just purchased a squier cv jazz bass has anybody got any views?? I'm just getting back into playing after a long layoff....Feels nice to play and i'm very pleased with it.....havn't got a proper amp even just practising thro' a 10w guitar amp so not even getting an accurate sound....hopefully purchase an amp in new year.....anyone who's got a cv jazz would like to know your thoughts on them ect.
many thanks bob.

DiMarzio Ultra Jazz

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:26:45 +0000

I had these put in my Squier bass to replace the stock pickups. (I wrote a bit about this elsewhere, but thought some readers might look here.) The DiMarzios are very strong; the midrange and upper registers are solid and warm, the bottom is big; what I got was a whole new sound for my bass. I don't have tons of experience with lots of basses, as many BCers do, but I would say the tone of these is quite contemporary; but I am also running through a Hartke 2500, which tends to be hard and punchy in tone. I have roundwounds on the bass; flats would no doubt give a fatter tone.

Another benefit is that I am playing with less volume (in a trio of violin, keyboard, and bass, all amped) because the presence of the bass is that much enhanced.

I paid $95 for these ($160 list). Great value. Modding the Squier with these and with a Gotoh bridge have made a huge difference, bringing my total investment up to a mere $415. Couldn't be better.

aguilar sl 4x10 cab

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 09:23:33 +0000

looking at mybe getting one of these cabs anyone got any feedback on them i have a db 2x12 at the moment running through a db751 lookink to get a bit more brightness from my sound my be going for this cab on its own or adding a db 4x10

EBS Session Classic 60 Watt Combo

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 13:50:02 +0000

Here's my review from my new 'The Bassment' column in the FREE Guitar Interactive Magazine. This video is out on Youtube now so it's ok to post a link here.

[

Here's the link to the full free magazine - it's packed to the brim with reviews, interviews and stuff!

http://licklibrary.c...g/issue5/page/1

Yamaha TRB5 2nd generation (slap cutaway)

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:26:24 +0000

Just got hold of one of these, thought i might do a review... never seen one on here

First impressions.. wow, you only have to hold one of these to know its going to be very good... rock solid neck and construction...

Features..

Two piece ash body, Maple neck, Rosewood FB, abalone dot markers solid gold hardware, 3 EQ Yamaha preamp with a 3 way mid selector, and Yamaha soap bars.. tweakable mids via the preamp.. very comprehensive EQ from this system..

Playability..

Apart from my third subject, this is where this bass shines...the action you can get from this bass is superb.. the lowest ive ever got from any bass... it really doesnt feel like your putting any pressure at all on the strings to sound a note... total ease... very comfortable sitting on knee or standing...the neck is fairly wide.. a bit like a Lakland 55 but they seem to flattened it somewhat... i love the 34 scale on this bass as it adds to the feel of comfort what with the mega low action, and the profile.... The cutaway of these TRB's are great to give a bit more access... no neck dive and balances well.. the only bad point is the slap cutaway, which is a little deep for me, will take some getting used to

Sound..

these TRB's are renowned for there classical clarity of tone, which is there... beautiful tone for a bass thats not a boutique... Chords sound wonderful on this bass... ive had a twiddle with the EQ and my favorite tone comes from its awsome mid range burp, but with both pups on full.. treble up two thirds... fantastic gospel growl.... these basses have such a bad ass side to them.. i cant really ind a jazz bass tone on this bass.. a slight P bass maybe.. its a modern sound but its a modern sound with LOTS of character

i had the TRBII and it was pretty much the same.. very polite when played that way, but when you want to get funky it does the business... Reggae, Jazz, Funk, Pop, Rock.. not alot you couldnt do with this bass...

Construction...

Built like a f***ing tank.. The Japanese know how to make a quality bass... as good as anything ive ever played...the neck on these older TRB's are sunken further back into the body, with 6 bolts.... people say this all the time, (including me) but this bass was about 1500 new in its day, but from the Sukops, STR's, Sei, ive played this is easily as good. basses like this make me think i dont need to spend thousands on a bass, and i think thats a great thing..

i do have a habit of bigging up new basses only to find faults later and trade looking like a monkey, but i really dig this bass.... the funny thing is its the cheapest bass ive ever had, but its prob the best...

DHA VT1 Std Bass

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 19:02:17 +0000

I picked up this from Simwells from the for sale section as per this thread:-

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/156228-dha-vt1-std-overdrive/

First Impressions:-
First thing I did as a big nerd was to pop the back off and inspect the insides. Don't let the hand drawn case markings fool you, the insides are built on a solid looking PCB with a lot of unused component spaces. Presumably the same PCB is used for the higher end models as well and this more basic model uses a similar circuit but without the extra bells and whistles. In any case, it looks very well made and the housing and controls feel nice and sturdy. There was an LED which I initially thought might be for clipping until I plugged it in and saw it lit up the tube in a pleasant blue when engaged. Nice touch! The unit came with a JJ tube which pleased me as my amp uses JJs and Matamp swear by them so I was glad it was something decent and not a cheap one to save costs.

Sounds:-
I don't have a bass amp at home so went straight into my computer and through a cut down version of Amplitube to provide the bass amp sound. I wanted to try it through my MXR M80 but why can you never find a 9v when you need one? Anyway, Amplitube has a passable solid state bass amp sim and I dialled in a decent tone and hit the pedal. First thing, the power supply was very noisy. I was hoping I could get away without needing a better one, but no such luck. Despite the noise, the pedal sounded great. I still got a lot of the bass and amp sound but the pedal added a nice amount of grit to the top on lower settings. And while my MXR and previous Sansamp sounded buzzy and unusable at higher gains, the DHA sounded as good maxed out as it did at the lower ends. The 'i/p pad' control was basically an input level control and could be used to push the tube to break up. I was able to get a nice, thick distortion sound which begged to have some Rage and Muse basslines played through it while keeping the sound of my bass. Overall then, very good. Dare I say on a par with the Darkglass B3K videos I've seen on youtube? No, as I don't have one of those pedals to try it out against but similar from memory. More on this later when I've had more of a play and a re-listen to the demo videos.

Cons:-
Well it's not the prettiest pedal in the world and the need for a 12v psu requires an extra plug as few power supplies cater for 12v. It's probably also a fault of the setup I initially tried it on but the levels needed tweaking a bit too much for my taste when changing settings, and without the 'bright' and 'boost' switches on, it sounded very weedy. I will explore these more when I get to my bass amp but I thought I should mention them to give an accurate first impression, although I stress it's probably more my skills with Reaper at fault than the pedal.

Overall then, a keeper for me for sure. The best bass distortion I've tried for sure. Time will tell if I come to resent the lack of tone control or blend function but for someone with a very small setup (tuner > this > DI) it's a very nice sounding and easy to use distortion box. I'll update this when I've tried it amplified and maybe had a play with different vavles.

Stageclix Jack wireless system

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 17:05:06 +0000

I've been using this system for the last three weekends before reviewing it, just so that I got a chance to run it through it's paces. It's so well built and simple to use, if anyone is contemplating a top quality wireless system I'd strongly recommend they check this out

http://www.stageclix.../stageclix-jack

The unit comes in it's own carry case complete with link leads, belt pouch and mains adapter. It took me less than three minutes to get it out and use it, it is that simple. The Jack transmitter is a great design, it has an illuminated switch on the underside and the unit pivots around the jack plug to enable you to position it on your guitar. The jack is designed to be removed without any noise but the really neat bit for me is the fact that it uses a rechargeable battery and plugs into the base unit via a jack socket to recharge - brilliant!

I swap basses onstage and this system is perfect to do that - off with the switch, out of the bass, into the next bass and switch back on again in seconds

I have noticed NO drop in signal or tone, and the distance I can get between me and the receiver without any signal loss means I can go to the back of a room and soundcheck the band if required.

There are some big names using this system at the moment - no not me - and I can see it becoming very popular

For more tech stuff check the website above.

Bass BB Preamp

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 22:20:14 +0000

So I went into Guitar Guitar in Glasgow where I'd tried the Ibanez Bass Tubescreamer a couple of months ago, intending to double check I liked it and buy it. when I got in the shop I had a quick browse of the pedals and saw the BB Preamp, which, strangely enough, I'd been thinking about on the bus there. I heard it first in Janek Gwizdala's interview with Bryan Beller thought it sounded pretty good but hadn't given it much thought since, I'd read the review of the tubescreamer in BGM and they'd given it 5*s so was pretty set on that. But then i played through it. even my drummer friend said how much better it sounded and how quickly I got a good sound from it.

Overview
Its a very small pedal, roughly 63x110mm, which is perfect for my diminuitive board. Very straight forward layout, gain and volume on the left and treble and bass on the right. there's a small red LED to show that the pedal is engaged, true bypass footswitch and a 9vdc input (centre negative).

Build
feels pretty solid, not quite the weighty tank that is the bass Tubescreamer but I reckon I can stand on it for a few years and it won't break (I also trust the Xotic Effects brand to make something roadworthy). The knobs have enough resistance that you won't lose your setting if your foot brushes past it on the way to another pedal, unusually they're a kind of chicken-head shape, not quite T-Rex style but a very useful "beak" that shows how much of whatever you're dialling in.

Sounds
Before I make any sweeping and potentially misleading statements I'll say that I was after a vintage sounding overdrive, kind of like the bass on 'Uptight' or 'Do I Do' (Stevie Wonder does the best bass everything!) but here goes: this is easily the best sounding distortion I've ever heard. Bar none. Ever. This pedal could function very well without the EQ as it seems to hold on to your tone very well and just drives it, which is what other distortion pedals should be doing but somehow never do. On the other hand I feel its better to have too much control rather than not enough, and have found myself adding a touch of bass boost.
The gain knob is the real point of interest and where the most fun is had. It kicks in at around 8/9 o' clock (something lacking from the Tubescreamer which needed to be over halfway to get any drive), at this setting its a really subtle and creamy overdrive, adding a touch of grit around the edges of the note. turning up to 12 o'clock and it gets a bit more aggressive but still in the same region of creaminess, while from 2 o' clock onwards its getting to full on distortion, something like Hysteria (which isn't as massively overdriven as the kids on youtube think it is). The pedal is incredibly responsive, reating very organically to the dynamics of your playing.

Conclusion
I think this pedal is brilliant. It gives me the exact sound I want with the option to expand and go further if I so wish, and is small enough to snuggle onto my tiny board with the Moogerfooger, which takes up about a third of it. If your after a fuzz then this is not the pedal for you, get the MXR El Grande Bass Fuzz or Blowtorch (i didn't know that amount of compression was legal!), or the Aguilar Agro. But if you want old-school, organic and reponsive overdrive, I couldn't recommend this pedal enough (anyone from xotic reading this? ).

Review of Roqsolid Covers

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 22:07:04 +0000

ROQSOLID Has The Bases Covered….

One of the most annoying experiences of the gadget generation is the lack of joined up thinking that seems to accompany the release of most new products. I refer mainly to the necessary accessories and after sales service that is so important. Try buying a proprietary brand case for a new mp3 player or phone. You will probably have to wait months before anything appears. And so with musical instruments and equipment. Thank goodness most mid-priced and above guitars normally come with their own cases. But as for amps and speakers etc., how many times have I bought kit, only to be told that cases and covers should be available in a few months time. There was no exception when I recently purchased two small and beautifully formed Aguilar speaker cabinets and their baby amp the TH500. Cases and covers will be available soon........ and they come from America, so we'll have to wait for a shipment, unless you want to pay extra shipping costs. Well extra shipping costs on top of fairly expensive brand covers led me to search for a worthy alternative.
This I found in the form of a partnership of two brothers: Bryn and Lee, who trade under the name of Roqsolid, based in Birstall, West Yorkshire. They are basically custom case manufacturers, who have kept past order specs to build up an off the peg service. I checked out their website having heard some good comments about their products, and soon got down to measuring up my cabinets for a quote. After a few very helpful telephone conversations with both Bryn and Lee I placed my order for one amp and two speaker covers. The covers arrived just two days after ordering and the quality is superb. According to their website "our covers have an outer layer of waterproof poly-propylene, an inner layer of 250gm heavy-duty table-felt and the layers are laminated together for rigidity and durability. I chose the white webbing (there is a choice of six colours) which joins the seams of black material. I am extremely pleased with them as you can probably tell. On many counts Roqsolid scores high: their covers and well designed, expertly made, using appropriate strength materials, with helpful advice from the team, they look good, and are competitively priced; and they arrived at lightning speed, rather than three months after I need them. Roqsolid certainly has all the bases covered. (For further information: www.roqsolid.com.uk)

Dave Hall DI-EQ

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:46:01 +0000

I bought a DHA DI-EQ pedal from a fellow BCer and I absolutely love it.
I've tried all sorts of different pre's / DI boxes (Ampeg, Trace Elliot, MXR, EHX, Sansamp) and this is fast eclipsing the lot. The balanced DI out is super-clean, switchable between ground, lift and float, and the EQ is really musical.

Even though it's solid state it has a real warmth to it, and can do pretty much any clean tone you could imagine - everything from bright, blistering slap to old school thump and thud.

My best purchase all year (and there've been a few...). It's small enough to fit in a gig bag and can be powered by a 9v battery as well as a standard 9v Boss style adaptor, so it's ideal for jam nights / acoustic performances. I've even used it to play for a couple of shows and just gone straight into the PA and have always had a great tone.

Like all DHA products it's built like a tank, but much easier to operate. For �70 new it's a real no-brainer - I'll probably never go to a gig without it again.

Luminlay Fret Markers

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:03:21 +0000

I have Luminlay Fret Markers in both my ACG's and thought a review may be useful for anyone considering trying them. Alan is offering them as an option on his builds so if you are considering them, here goes.
All the information about them is here:
Luminlay Website

They work on a similar principle to the luminous markers on watches. I have the 3
mm Green ones in both my ACG's. They are energised using a small LED torch, (provided or purchase from Luminlay), whch shines blue light on the markers. According to Luminlay, Blue is the best colour to charge them up. It is the quality of the light rather than intensity or duration that has the optimum effect. After a 5sec charge they are initially quite bright and then fade very slightly keeping a constant glow. As all the bands I play in use LED srage lights, these will have an effect on the duration the dots glow for. They easily lasted a 1hr set and even after a 15-20 min break they were still glowing prior to a re-charge for Set 2.
One band I play in is a Blues Brothers Tribute and even wearing the required Ray-Bans, the dots were clearly visible. Even when they have lost their charge the dots do seem easier to see than conventional Aluminium or Plastic ones. They are a little larger, (which helps), and the nature of the material seems to help as well.
Are they an alternative to LED's? I would say yes. They are much cheaper for starters, particularly when specced at the start of the build as they are just fitted in place of normal dots. They do seem to get you through a typical set without "dying", although stage lights will help. Even a quick re-charge mid-set is no real hardship. Just do it whilst your singer is waffling or guitarist tuning up, (again).

Quiklok BS-317

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 23:12:54 +0000

Had two now, first one had to be replaced and now the second will be going back.

Neither would tighten properly to stay rigid. On both, the thread on the locking bolt sheared, on the second without me even getting to put my amp on it.

Reviews of this stand are very good, I can't find a bad one. But my personal experience is that they absolute rubbish and very poor quality. I knew as soon as I started tightening the locking mech on the second it was going to fail, you could just feel how badly the two threads were working against each other.

Personally I wouldn't touch them ever again.

G & L L2500

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 20:15:28 +0000

Just got a G & L L2500 Tribut bass off one of the guys on Basschat at a bargain price. Its Maple neck and Bluebirst. Probably one of the best basses I've had over the past 30 years for sure. Also Loaded my Ashdown Electric Blue 180 with an Emenence Kappalite LF which has made a difference to the sound of the cab. About to load one into a Warick cab my brother's given me and there's enough space for a little horn too. I'll get the full 300w out of the little bugger then. Happy days.

Rotosound Nexus Black Coated Type 52

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 00:20:42 +0000

I recently purchased these strings from Amazon for �24. I wanted to try something different, as I have almost exclusively been using rotosound swing bass 66 roundwound strings for as long as I can remember. These caught my eye because they were exactly what I was looking for, they were different. I wasn't looking for a life changing experience, or the best strings in the world, I bought these knowing I was taking a risk and dammit if I didn't like them then I would keep them on for as long as possible just to get my moneys worth anyway.

All out of 10:

Brightness - 7
These strings are advertised as a good alternatives to steel strings delivering a bright sound, and they're not lying.
Tone - 6
I am yet to play with my band so I am keen to hear how well it cuts through at rehersals and at a gig. Just from practicing by myself I was quite impressed with the mids, the lows were ok but not too sure about the highs. I am hoping the strings have a good presence at gigs.
Feel - 9
For me this was the biggest and most noticeable difference. The finish is very smooth and feels really nice on the fret hand. With steel strings you can really feel them digging into your fingers when they are new, but these felt so good - moving around the fret board, doing slides, runs, scales, all felt marvellous.
Look - 10
They're black strings, I think that's pretty badass. I'm not a metal head or anything (not that there's anything wrong with that), but I think these strings look awesome. Now I can tell people my G string is black
Longevity - N/A
I will get back to you on this one. However, a few tiny specs of the coat have come off in places already and I expect tiny flakes will continue to come off during rehearsals and gigs. So as far as the coat goes, I don't imagine that it will stay perfect for very long, although so far this is only noticable when you are up close.

All in all the strings are silky smooth, provided enough brightness to keep me happy, and sounded good enough so far. If like me, you fancied a change and felt like doing something a bit different then why not try these out for a while?

This has been my first review if i've left anything out or could improve this review in any way please let me know thank you for reading

Ibanez RU 10 Jam Tuner

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:14:56 +0000

It's strange but of all the little 'Plug your guitar in and practice on headphones' widgets around, as far as I know, this is the only one with a library of drum sounds.

Basically, it's a plastic box about 2" by 3". In fact it looks like any one of a dozen tuner/metronome things available for a tenner or so.

It's about as straight forward as you like. There's an off/on switch, a volume wheel for headphone out and the tiny built-in speaker, an instrument in jack, a headphone out mini jack, a 'volume level' wheel for the instrument input and a really nasty 'gain' wheel which clicks 'on and then proceeds to make your guitar sound like it's being played through a �3 MW only transistor radio which has been hidden in a biscuit tin. Fortunately, this 'wheel' clicks off for sensible grown-up bass guitarists....Mmmm....clean tone.

The metronome is OK...it's the beep type so fairly generic. The Function button on the front selects 4 functions; there's 'beat'..Normal metronome time sigs, tempo, for changing the...er...tempo... a tap function so you can get the speed correct for something you're doing and there's a rhythm which adds a few beeps into each pattern...

The drums are nothing special in terms of sonics...it's no Alesis SR18, rather they are the old school synthesised type. They sound like drums however so who cares. There's 20 different patterns some of which are set up as 12 bars with appropriate fills for the key changes.

However... Plug the bass in, select 'Mode' to get to 'Drums', select a drum pattern on the 'Up/Down rocker button, , use 'Function to select either 'Tempo' or 'pattern' and off you go.

It's great! ...get a nice short patch lead and start to groove...You can feel your timing tighten up minute by minute.

Yes, a real drummer is great to groove with, anf yes, you can rig up a drum machine yada yada yada, but this is a tiny AAA powered one box solution to silent practice...

Best of all, although it's meant to be �30 plus, Nevada Music have white ones only (there's also a red one and a black one from other people)...for �20 inc postage.

The secret to regular practice is not to put complicated barriers in your way. This thing can sit in your guitar case with a set of cheap headphones and a short patch lead and you've got it all there ready!

Best toy this week...